Secrets of the Clans
by fridgethatbubblegum
Summary: Neji... suffering with his clans' curse. And I, suffering with my own. I love you, but I can't. Won't you share your worries with me? And TenTen? How are my going to compete with you, when you mean so much to him already. A Neji x OC fanfic! Please Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Meeting you

**Bubble: Hello everybody! I decided I'd do a Naruto fanfiction because I LOVE Naruto as well! It's almost at the end! NOOO! *devastated gasp from the crowd* **

**Neji: I'm starring?!**

**Bubble: Yes you are! My favorite character Neji plus my favorite OC! Mononobe Karuta-chan!**

**Naruto: Glad to be part of it 'ya know! **

**Bubble: Ok, I wanted to bring back some of Neji's around-about way of being nice, when he was still 'young' how he was really emotionless and stuff, so don't expect him to get all sweet just yet!**

**Hinata: Fridgethatbubblegum does not own Naruto... (inner Hinata: ****_I_**** DO! MUAHAHAA!) **

**Bubble: Please R&R! Thanks xx**

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**Chapter 1. Meeting you**

A skinny girl around 15 years old jumped from tree to tree, her reddish-brown hair tied into a ponytail flowing behind her, her emerald eyes gleaming as she scurried up a tree.

Quickly positioning herself she hid in the top of a tree, only the quiet flittering of some falling leaves signaling she was ever there.

"Hey little kid give me your kunai" A gruff voice said from under her, a fat Genin, only about 12 or 13 was bullying a kid from the lower grades.

"No!" The little boy said bravely.

"I got this from my Daddy! I won't give it-" He was cut off as the fat kid grabbed it, pointing it at the little boy's neck.

"Stop right there!" A voice sounded from the trees and the girl from earlier jumped from the tree, landing right on top of the fat boy, four Kunai's in one hand.

"You're already a Genin, shouldn't you be training?" She asked him as the fat kid cowered in fear.

"Big-sis Karuta!" The little boy shouted happily as the bully scurried away, the low tree branches struggling to hold his weight as he jumped.

"You know you should be home by now, Kazu-kun" Karuta said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Yeah" The Kazu-kun said, taking the Kunai back from her.

"But watch this first!" he aimed at a low target that was secured on one of the thick trunks of a tree, just above Karuta's waist.

"Yah!" The kid threw the Kunai and it pelted at the target, hitting it just off the middle and cracking the thick wood easily.

"Well done but we should be practicing with our own, these are for other kids, we'll just snap them before we know if it even landed well or not." Karuta said and ushered him out of the forest.

"Ok!" Kazu-kun said. She smiled, she was always being cheered up by his enthusiasm.

"Kazuhiko! dinner!" A plump lady called out. "Coming Mummy!" Kazu-kun called.

"Sorry we're late, Aunt Mari" Karuta called as Kazu-kun ran to her, showing off his Kunai and telling her what happened today.

Karuta was from the Mononobe Clan.

She walked through the massive gates that lead to the main house, treading the gravel path carefully and admiring the multi-coloured plants the place had.

As Karuta went to her room, someone called her from the gate.

"Hey Karuta! Do you have a minute?" it was Tenten.

"Oh hey! What brings you here!" She called back and pounced from her window to the closest tree, landing right in front of Tenten.

"I wanted to introduce you to my friends! This is Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee!" She said happily, gesturing to the males who were standing tall behind her.

"And this is Mononobe Karuta-chan!"

"Hello" Karuta said politely, they seemed a nice group.

"Neji is a genius and already a Jounin and... Rock Lee is a ninja that can't use ninjutsu, you don't really need to worry about him." Tenten said, Karuta smiled.

"Cool" she then pondered for a moment.

"Hey, is Hyuuga the one..." She stopped. She didn't think it very polite to ask _'the clan that uses Byakugan' _just because it wasn't really something to talk about, at least that's what Karuta thought.

She didn't want her Clan to become the centre of attention either.

Neji had already reacted when Karuta had mentioned his clan, he had thought 'Mononobe Clan' rung a bell in his memories, but didn't think about it much because he had never met one from it. Now he was facing one, he didn't know what to think.

"I need to go now, I have some important things to do" Neji said and disappeared.

"Ok, we better go too, see you tomorrow!" Tenten said and ran off.

Karuta descended back into her room quickly and quietly, the memory of the byakugan user burning into the back of her mind like a candle that wouldn't go out.

Karuta woke to the sound of shouting.

"Karuta-san! Would you like to train with us?" It was Lee.

"Coming" She shouted back groggily, getting changed in a flash and jumping from her window. She couldn't remember the last time she used a door to get out.

She looked at the time just before she jumped, it was 6:00am. Normal time for her, but considering she was wondering about Neji all night it was technically three hours too early.

"Today I am going to do 5000 pushups!" Rock Lee announced when she got there. Karuta sweatdropped.

"Is that what you do every day?" She asked carefully, wondering who their team instructor was.

"Is everybody youthful again today?!" A voice bellowed from the trees. It was Gai.

"Gai Sensei!" Lee rushed to him and they did their own little spotlight hug.

"Hello! I haven't seen that face before!" Gai sensei announced and gave Karuta a sparkling grin. She had to squint to see him.

"H-hi..." She replied and looked around to see Tenten and Neji appearing into the clearing. This was where everybody trained, where there was three flabs of tree trunk off to the side.

"Hey Karuta!" Tenten called and Neji nodded a greeting. "Hello!" She replied happily and fixed up her hair, tying it up in a ponytail, a thin golden ribbon holding it in place.

"Okay everybody! We are going to practice 'A thousand years of death' on these voodoo dolls!" Gai shouted and everybody groaned.

"What?" Karuta asked Tenten.

"It's where uh... watch Lee" She said, a depressed expression clouding her face. Karuta looked over to Rock Lee, and saw what she probably didn't want to see.

"SEN-NEN-GOROSHI!" Gai bellowed and he...well, started his training too. Neji, Tenten and Karuta just stood there.

"C'mon newbie! Join the training!" Gai exclaimed.

"Karuta-chan you don't have to." Tenten said and Karuta sighed it relief.

"Then just punch the trunk! You need to do _some _kind of training Karuta-san!" Lee said.

"Oh yeah, that doesn't sound too bad!" Tenten said and beckoned Karuta to the third piece of wood.

"No it's ok, Tenten, do you want to do some?" She said quickly. Neji was watching the commotion intently.

"Why not?" Tenten asked but Karuta said nothing.

"Yes, she's not even part of our team, she's going to be in the way of my training." Neji said finally, a very emotionless expression on his face.

"Tenten, you should train." He turned away and started to practice some of his latest jutsu's.

"Oh... ok" She replied and started to throw weapons at the trunk.

"Neji-san... uh... thanks" Karuta said cautiously, he didn't seem one that liked conversations.

"I meant it when I said you would be in the way. Do not take it personally." Neji replied, turning away slightly.

"But nobody would have listened if it was someone else saying-"

"I do not care for your gratitude, you're wasting my time." He cut her off.

"oh well, thanks anyways!" Karuta said smiling weakly.

She waved goodbye to the others around noon, going back home to do some of her own training, she needed to worry about herself as well. The rituals coming up would be long and tiring.

The full moon was close, and the whole clan could feel it.


	2. Chapter 2: Seals and Curses

**Bubble: Yaay, this is a long chapter! xD **

**Karuta: Did you like it? I'm not really shy like Hinata, it's just I don't like talking about my clan, you'll find out why in this chapter.**

**Tenten: Fridgethatbubblegum does NOT own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden!**

**Neji: Please R&R and thanks for reading :D**

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**Chapter 2. Seals and Curses**

_The full moon was close, and the whole clan could feel it._

Karuta threw her Kunai at the strong metal plate, making a massive dent in the hard silver surface.

She sighed and took in her surroundings. She was in the back garden of the main house in Mononobe Clan mansion.

"Tonight is the full moon..." Her cousin Kazu-kun said quietly as he watched her peg different weapons at the metal, now mushy and deformed.

"It'll be ok, everything will be back to normal tomorrow..." Karuta said waking up to him, patting him on the head.

"What about you?" The boy said, grabbing Karuta's gloved hand.

"Aren't you sad that they sealed you too?" He said.

"Well... a lot is forbidden after you get this... but it's not all bad things" She replied and took off her gloves. They looked like Kakashi's gloves, with the metal pieces on the backs of them.

"See, if you cover them up, nobody cares." Kazu-kun stared at the backs of his cousin's hands. They had blue markes on them that looked much like flowers, frangipanis to be exact.

"You'll get a different flower, I think." Karuta continued.

"Your expectations are different." She turned to gaze sadly at sun, just about to set. It looked like the sky was on fire.

The whole of Mononobe Clan was lined up inside the main building, there wasn't much of it.

"There is only... four ninjas left in the main branch..." An old man was saying. He was Great Grandfather Oonoki. The one who did the seals and the rituals.

"The rest of the clan must live and avenge the ones who were killed. You must kill the one who led our family into despair..." He was chanting.

"...As the main branch continues to focus on the renewing of our clan..."

"Another young soul will be sealed with our promise this full moon. Mononobe Kazuhiko, step forward." Oonoki did not look up as the small 7 year old cowered in front of him.

Karuta couldn't bear to watch. She looked down at her own hands and saw she had unconsciously clenched them. Hands that were crafted for revenge. She hated it.

"Love nobody...Trust nobody... Seek out revenge to the killer who made three-quarters of our clan perish... From now on that is what you will live for..." It went on and on. The same words each time.

Karuta remembered when she had it done. Her hands had felt like they were being burned. Flashbacks moved before her eyes as Oonoki made hand signs so fast they were just a blur, and Kazuhiko screamed in pain as the curse mark began to form on the backs of his palms, green Lily flowers, burning themselves into his skin.

Karuta sat, dizzy and sick. The clan had to sit awake all night and through the next day, then the next night too. Two sleepless nights of no eating or drinking during the ritual, just sitting there.

Karuta wasn't used to it. She ended up nodding off but waking up again because she was in a sitting position, a light sleep engulfed her for about three minutes, then she jolted awake again.

Her head rung from last night and the night before, everybody looked exhausted. So did Kazu-kun. He lay there, fast asleep, the seal leaving angry and red, scar-like flower imprints in his skin. It would take a week to heal.

She stood slowly, and began to hobble out of the room, collapsing on her bed. Only to be woken up again about ten minutes later with Rock Lee calling at her doorstep.

"Karuta-san! You have a message from the 5th Hokage!" She fell out of bed when she heard that. Today was her solo B-rank mission. She was in that groggy state, with nobody to watch her back.

"Are you up for this? I understand you had a tough night" Tsunade was saying.

"No... it's fine... Rogue ninjas need to be warded off before things get too nasty." Karuta replied, trying to stand as straight as she could.

"I could get another team to-" "It's fine, Really!" She cut her off.

"Uh... I mean, thank you, for the offer. But as you can see I'm in a terrible mood and I'm a solo ninja, I should be fine. It _is _part of my training." Karuta said quickly, blushing at her foolishness.

"Ok, off you go then" The Hokage said, smiling.

"What was it about?" Tenten asked Lee when he got back.

"Oh just that Karuta-san is doing a solo mission. Isn't that great?" He replied happily, punching and kicking the air.

"What rank?"

"Oh Tsunade-sama didn't tell me."

"But solo's aren't that high right? She probably has like a D-rank and didn't want everyone to know. We _are _Chunin." Tenten said.

Neji stiffened. Mononobe Clan members are forbidden to do anything under C-rank._ They travel solo as part of their training and most of the Jounin do only A or S rank..._ He recalled reading it in a book somewhere.

That meant... Chunin's do nothing but A or B-ranks! _Karuta was tired too_, he thought. Recalling something about a full moon ritual, and staying up a whole two nights. He didn't know what it was for though.

How was she going to cope?! Neji thought hurriedly, he was amazed at how much he knew about the Mononobe Clan.

The last bit of information he remembered was that they train purely for revenge, the capturing and killing of the Akatsuki swordsman, Hoshigaki Kisame.

The normally hidden good-heartedness in the cold ninja sparked at the memory of Karuta, for a reason he did not know.

"I just remembered something I had to do, sorry, I will see you later." Neji said to his companions and sped off towards the high building where Tsunade was pacing around, curious about the young Mononobe ninja.

"5th Hokage-sama!" Neji expertly teleported into the room.

"I apologize for my rudeness" He babbled, seeing the startled face in front of him.

"But would you allow me to be a part of Mononobe Karuta's B-rank mission?!"

Tsunade looked at him, then burst out laughing.

Neji didn't know how to react, but then she quietened down.

"Sure, I heard there are Rogue Jonins amongst the team, if Karuta isn't careful she may be running into an S-rank mission." She said her face grim.

"She headed-"

"North." Neji said, byakugan activated.

"I can see her."

He disappeared and Tsunade smiled, he _did _have a soft spot after all...

The journey to the destination she needed to be at wasn't hard. It was a small patch of land that didn't have many trees, there wasn't any sign of life anywhere.

Karuta had already jumped on one of the Rogues, her sensory skills high when it comes to sensing sound. That was another thing her clan was good at, picking up sound from all around them, at least 3km's away from where they were standing.

A twig rustled and Karuta was instantly on guard, she had crashed all of the first Rogue Chunins' bones with one hit when she landed on them, but now there were four in front of her. Chunin, _easy_.

Karuta pounced at the first two and knocked their heads together, they lay there unconscious as she went to the other ones, throwing a kunai and to the smirking chunin's surprise, going straight through him, killing him quickly with its force.

The other one however, had vanished.

"That was an easy bunch, where are the rest?" Karuta called, provoking more if there were any. She was even more desperate for a break, but she knew she needed to do at least this.

Then suddenly she heard the stomping of feet, everywhere, anywhere. And they were heading straight for her.

She ducked and jumped and swiped and smashed, there were about 20 rogues attacking her at once, it wasn't a first, she had done a lot of this kind of training.

After Karuta had cracked the bones of the 17th opponent, she stopped and looked up at the remaining three. The only Jounin's left.

"How dare you injure all of our team of Chunin's!" The main one bellowed.

"You guys were just too weak." Karuta shouted back.

"Damn! Show her!" The one to the right grunted, as they all jumped at her at once.

One could play the flute, one was like a spider, and one had long, grey hair. (recognize them?)

"how do you like that!?" The one with long grey hair shouted, swiping at Karuta as she gasped for air _with... a-a backbone?! _She thought, alarmed. The boy had taken some bones out of his body, and was using them as weapons!

She suddenly felt that she could not move an inch, and the high-pitched sound of a flute echoed in the air.

A sticky web-like substance clung to her clothes as Karuta struggled to free herself, the spider had already fired a long, wooden stick into her back and was laughing manically.

"8 trigram Vacuum Palm!" Someone shouted and jumped into the clearing.

Karuta gasped, her emerald green eyes meeting pale ones. "N-Neji?" She asked in shock. The spider's web had been completely blown away, Karuta just collapsed onto her knees.

"Gah! That kid from ages ago!" The spider man commented and the other two gasped.

Taking advantage of the three's shock and paralyzed state, with earplugs in their ears, Karuta and Neji both used their fingers to the best of their ability,

"Gentle fist, 64 trigrams!" Neji shouted

"Petal flames!" Karuta shouted.

And with that, the three of Ororchimaru's servants were blown off as far away as possible, (never to reappear in Bubble's story again.)


	3. Chapter 3: Savior and Hospitals

**Bubble: Thanks for reading everybody! I really appreciate it!**

**Neji: I'm a hero! *Eyes sparkle***

**Hinata: Fridgethatbubblegum does NOT own Naruto...**

**Orochimaru: Please R&R!**

**All: WHERE'D ****_YOU_**** COME FROM?! O.O**

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** Chapter 3. Saviour and Hospitals**

_And with that, the three of Ororchimaru's servants were blown off as far away as possible, (never to reappear in Bubble's story again.)_

"Neji..." Karuta panted, her vision blurring.

"It's ok, they're gone." He replied, expressionless.

"I guess you _are _nice at heart." She smiled weakly, Neji turned away huffing. His cheeks slightly crimson, but barely noticeable.

"Thank you, Neji. I don't know how I was going to-" She stopped and stumbled, her chakra was completely gone.

Neji caught her just in time. "Karuta! You know that had ended up being an S-rank mission?" He scolded, picking her up bridal style.

"Well... it was all a part of my training." She replied, one hand clutching his shirt for support. she had been stabbed in the back, the pain was returning.

"I'll get you to the hospital" Neji said quickly.

"No, it's ok-"

"No it's not!" He said a little too harshly.

"But my family-"

"Think about yourself for once! About what state you're in now!" He said completely ignoring her pleas.

"My family planned this." Karuta said firmly.

Neji stopped. Staring at her like she had just murdered someone.

"They told the Hokage they were Rogue Ninjas, claiming it to be around B-rank. Then said I would be perfect for the job." She said, a small smile plastered on her face awkwardly.

"It was all part of my training, to support the family." She said again, closing her eyes.

Neji couldn't believe his ears. "What if you were killed there?" He asked darkly."

"Then so be it."

He couldn't bear it.

"Just- ...sleep." He said, holding her closer and jumping from tree to tree. With that, Karuta was unconscious.

Karuta woke with a hazy mind, it had all been blackness while Neji carried her through the gates, returning to Konoha, explaining to Tsunade, and was now sitting next to her, in the hospital room.

"How long... was I out?" She asked weakly.

"a few hours." Neji replied blankly. He wasn't facing her, she could see the side of his face, gazing out through the window, his eyes far away.

He had waited till she had woken up?

"I have a message from the 5th Hokage, she apologized and said for you to not have any missions for a week or so, no training either."

"But I can still train!" Karuta whined, her eyes wide.

"I'm afraid not." He replied and walked to the door.

"I've wasted enough time already. I'm going to train." Neji said and walked out of the room, the door sliding shut with a quiet click.

The hospital bed was scratchy, she tried to sit up and a horrible pain shot up her back.

_Oh yeah, _She reminded herself _I was stabbed..._

She thought about Neji for the second time that day, how cold he was usually, and how nice he was when he had helped her.

_"Think about yourself for once!" _The words echoed in her ears.

She had heard that phrase many times, except it was backwards.

_"Think about your family for once!" _Her Mother would scream if Karuta even gave a hint that she was too tired to train.

It was after a ritual, too. Couldn't she get even a _little _break? Apparently not.

She had been training every day, practicing her skills and sparring with her uncle, but after the ritual was over she needed to get back to some more training straight after. She was only 7, and her hands hurt like hell.

She had sat through _her _ritual, after all.

She remembered not getting a wink of sleep for the whole two nights, the skin on her hands hurt too much.

Kazu-kun had gotten a sleeping potion, it had knocked him right out for the two days of his ritual, why couldn't they have done it for her, too?

Now she was fifteen, but the pictures were in her memories, scarring her heart like nothing else could.

Told to never love, to never trust. And yet she had trusted Neji with her life when she fainted. He could have killed her.

_But he didn't._

A voice kept saying in her head.

_Oonoki-sama is wrong. You can trust some people with your life, you needed to. At least once._

But every time she tried, her seal loosened, her family would sense it and they were even more pressuring and strict than before.

Her mother and father were gone now, they died four years ago. She was eleven.

She didn't relish the fact that they were gone, she just stared blankly at their graves.

She didn't want people to feel sorry for her, but they did anyway.

She didn't want to be treated like she was special, it just... happened.

Without realizing it, she had started crying.

Neji walked out of the Konoha hospital, his head swum weirdly. It wasn't guilt that pooled in his chest, it was... hard to explain.

But he had this urge to turn to the window to see how Karuta was doing.

What he saw surprised him. Karuta, was crying.

Neji flinched as Kakashi Sensei poofed into the room.

"Please don't tell anyone" Karuta sobbed as Kakashi patted her head, it was against the family code to cry in public, she had thought she was crying in privacy, but Kakashi had spotted her, he was the only 'outside' teacher she knew.

When Karuta would spar or get an education, it was always hidden within the rooms of the Mononobe mansion, never out.

But she had met Kakashi during a mission, when he recognized her to be part of the Mononobe Clan because she had sheathed the backs of her hands when fighting.

"It's ok to cry once in a while," Kakashi said to her softly. Karuta nodded, sniffing.

She wondered what her clan was doing, she wondered what they were thinking now.

_Had she disgraced the clan? Did everyone hate her for it?_

She hated the fact she would always worry over things she had no control over.

Neji closed his eyes as he heard the two talk quietly. Even though her voice was slurred and raspy from crying, it sounded like music to him. He didn't know why, _he didn't want to know why._

Karuta hopped up to the roof of her house, she wasn't 100% healed yet, but in quite a good state.

"Karuta-san! I'm so glad you're up and running again!" Lee's voice blared through the early morning.

"Lee it's 4 in the morning!" Karuta scolded, also wondering why she was up this early.

"TIME DOES NOT MATTER! AS LONG AS YOU HAVE YOUTH!" _dammit. _At this time of day?

Karuta turned to see the two green-tights duo staring down at her with sparkling grins.

"You're going to be Jounin soon, right?" Gai Sensei said loudly. She nodded weakly.

"Well then, we are going to help you train!"

"Say what." Karuta replied, bewildered.

"You're going to spar with Neji!" _Oh hell no._


End file.
